The present invention relates generally to wire cable racks.
Wire cable racks well known in the art include a mesh made up of wires of two different types, on the one hand longitudinal wires, commonly called warp wires, which run longitudinally and in a rectilinear or quasi-rectilinear manner throughout their length and, on the other hand, spaced along the longitudinal wires and appropriately attached thereto, U-shaped transverse wires, commonly referred to as weft wires, the combination globally forming three panels, which are in practice plane or substantially plane, namely a bottom panel and two side panels, commonly referred to as flanges.
These wire cable racks are routinely used, in the manner of trunking, to support, house and protect electric cables or the like.
The expression xe2x80x9celectric cablesxe2x80x9d as used herein means not only cables for transporting and distributing electric energy, but also cables and fibers for transmitting information electrically, optically or otherwise.
With reference to such electric cables, wire cable racks have many advantages appreciated by electric installers, and in particular the advantages of easy installation, and therefore of economy, of flexibility, because the electric cables can be drawn out through any mesh, of transparency, and therefore of easy identification of the electric cables, of insulation, of cleanliness, of safety, both of the electric cables themselves and of users, and of performance.
However, at present, the fixing of the electric cables to one of the panels, which is necessary to hold the electric cables in place, and which is done in practice using cable ties looped transversely around one of their longitudinal wires and gripping one or more of the electric cables, is not always totally satisfactory.
One reason for this is that the wires necessarily cross over at different levels, the longitudinal wires being in practice outside the transverse wires.
As a result, if they are not stiff enough, the electric cables espouse the corresponding changes in level.
The electric cables are therefore often seen to be subject to an undulating deformation, especially in the case of electric cables of relatively small diameter.
Apart from the fact that this undulating deformation can sometimes be deemed to be unesthetic, it can also compromise the service life of the electric cables and/or the quality of their performance.
This is particularly so in the case of electric cables with capillary internal wiring suitable for networks interconnecting data processing equipment, in which the diameter of the electric conductors is no more than a few tenths of a millimeter.
Furthermore, regardless of the nature and/or the diameter of the electric cables, the cable ties which hold them in place can unintentionally move along the longitudinal wire that they pass around with the result that in the final analysis the retention of the electric cables in place is not totally controlled.
The general object of the present invention is an arrangement which avoids these drawbacks and which has other advantages.
To be more precise, the present invention consists of a wire cable rack of the kind including meshed wires of two different types, namely, longitudinal wires which run longitudinally throughout its length and, spaced along the longitudinal wires and appropriately attached thereto, U-shaped transverse wires. The combination globally forming, in the manner of trunking, three panels, namely a bottom panel and two side panels. This wire cable rack being generally characterized in that it is locally equipped on any of its panels with at least one accessory, referred to hereinafter as a fixing accessory, including, attachment means by which it is attached to the panel to which it is fitted and, at least one hole which passes completely through it and which is adapted to receive a fixing member of any kind, such as a cable tie or a bolt. It also consists of the corresponding fixing accessory, in isolation.
A first advantage of the fixing accessory in accordance with the invention used in this way is that it provides a seating for the electric cables, at any location chosen by the installer, which is more extensive than that provided by a mere wire.
The fixing accessory in accordance with the invention is preferably in the general form of a plate and the seating that it offers the electric cables is therefore advantageously plane.
It preferably has a thickness at most equal to that of the wires of the cable rack so that whether it straddles one of the longitudinal wires, and more generally one of the outside wires, or is inserted into one of the meshes that the latter form with the transverse wires, and more generally with the inside wires, its free surface is level with the generatrix of the inside wires at the greatest distance from the outside wires, with no change of level therewith.
Thus undulating deformation of the electric cables between their successive supports is advantageously avoided.
The fixing accessory in accordance with the invention preferably also has, in a cruciform arrangement adapted to constitute its attachment means, a first attachment surface, which bears on at least one outside wire and a second attachment surface, which faces toward the first attachment surface and which is engaged under at least two inside wires.
Accordingly, the fixing accessory in accordance with the invention is simply clipped to the wire cable rack to which it is fitted, gripping the wires of the cable rack of its own accord, without the intervention of any other auxiliary fixing means or device.
The fixing accessory is also advantageously removable, enabling it to be taken off and recovered, if required.
The fixing accessory, in conjunction with the invention, and through it the fixing member(s) it receives, are advantageously locked in position on the wire cable rack to which the accessory is fitted both transversely and longitudinally.
In particular, because of this fixing accessory, the cable ties used to hold the electric cables in place are advantageously locked longitudinally in position on the wire cable rack, which has the benefit of better controlled and long-term retention of the electric cables in position.
However, over and above the facility offered in this way for the use of cable ties, the fixing accessory in accordance with the invention has other advantages.
In particular, it enables two separator angle irons to be placed in the wire cable rack, parallel to each other, defining a separate compartment in the wire cable rack which can be used to house specific electric cables, in particular cables which must be protected by a metallic shield, and this compartment is where appropriate adapted to be closed by a lid.
The fixing accessory in accordance with the invention can also be used with suspension members from which the assembly is suspended or brackets on which the assembly is supported.
Other feasible applications include its use to fix light fittings under the wire cable rack; it also facilitates the installation of systems of orientable rollers to facilitate installing the cables, before fixing them in place, by minimizing the forces required to pull the cables, especially at corner, Tee, cruciform or other intersections.